Device for the provision of materials in workplaces

ABSTRACT

An apparatus ( 10 ) for furnishing material ( 12 ) at work sites is proposed. The apparatus ( 10 ) has a material holder ( 12 ) and a removal place ( 16 ). The material holder ( 12 ) and the removal place ( 16 ) are divided into a plurality of segments ( 22, 24, 54, 56 ) for the separate storage and furnishing of different materials. A separating wall ( 34, 58 ) extends in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus ( 10 ) for this purpose. In this fashion it is possible to furnish different parts in particular that must be installed together anyway, such as screws and nuts, in one single apparatus ( 10 ), by way of which the furnishing expense is lowered.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention is based on an apparatus for furnishing material at work sites according to the general description of the main claim.

[0002] Such an apparatus was made known previously in DE-GM 73 37 769. The apparatus has a material holder with a removal place for the material abutting said material holder. The material holder and the removal place form a segment in which a type of material can be furnished. It is entirely possible that up to 30 or even 60 different components are installed at one work site. Since a separate container—with the costs associated therewith—must be used for each part, however, this means that 30 or even 60 individual apparatuses are required.

[0003] Furthermore, one type of material often must be installed together with another type of material. Examples include screws and nuts or screws and washers. A separate apparatus must be provided for this purpose at the work site for each type of material; that is, for example, one apparatus for screws and one apparatus for nuts; and yet another apparatus for washers, if applicable. This means that three apparatuses for the components must be provided at the work site.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In contrast, the apparatus according to the invention for furnishing material at work sites having the characterizing features of the main claim has the advantage that it is more cost-effective than a plurality of individual apparatuses corresponding to the number of its segments. Even if this means that many segments remain empty, the costs are still reduced substantially.

[0005] Furthermore, apparatuses can be combined to form batteries or towers. This also reduces the assembly expense required to set up the apparatuses at work sites.

[0006] The apparatus further has the advantage that material types, in particular different components that are to be installed together, can be furnished in one apparatus.

[0007] If the material chute and the removal place are designed as parts capable of being joined together, the length of the material holder can be adapted to the requirements of the components to be stored.

[0008] Further advantages and advantageous further developments of the apparatus according to the invention for furnishing material at work sites result from the dependent claims and the description.

SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] An exemplary embodiment of the invention is presented in the drawing and explained in greater detail in the subsequent description.

[0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for furnishing material, and

[0011]FIG. 2 is an illustration according to the line of cut II-II in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012]FIG. 1 is an illustration of an apparatus 10 for furnishing material at work sites, and preferably manual work sites. The material can be the most diverse types of components, such as washers, screws, nuts or even electronic components, etc., that are to be installed at the work sites. The apparatus 10 is installed on a not shown base that is known per se, as a result of which it is arranged at a slant.

[0013] The apparatus 10 is composed of a preferably chute-shaped material holder 12, on the one end face 14 of which a removal place 16 is located and on the other end face 18 of which a filling funnel 20 is located. The filling funnel 20 can be eliminated, however. Due to the slanted arrangement of the apparatus 10 mentioned hereinabove, material can slide through the material holder to the removal place 16, from where it can be removed for installation.

[0014] The material holder 12, the cross-sectional area of which is shown in the sectional view in FIG. 2, is composed of two adjacent segments 22, 24 in the form of hollow chambers and is produced, for example, using the aluminum extrusion process. To form the hollow chambers, the material holder 12 basically comprises four outer walls 26, 28, 30, 32 forming a rectangle and extending in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus 10 or the material holder 12. In the present exemplary embodiment, the parallel outer walls 26, 28 are approximately twice as long as the likewise parallel outer walls 30, 32 situated at right angles to the outer walls 26, 28. In the assembled state, the outer wall 26 is located at the top, the outer wall 28 is located at the bottom, and the two outer walls 30, 32 are located on the sides. A separating wall 34 extends between the outer walls 26, 28 that divides the material holder 12 into the segments 22, 24. More than the two hollow chambers or segments 22, 24 shown located adjacent to each other can be provided if necessary.

[0015] Two undercut grooves 36 are formed along the outer wall 26 and, in each case, nearly in the center of the segments 22, 24. Two T-shaped projections 38 are formed along the outer wall 28 and, also in case each, nearly in the center of the segments 22, 24. The grooves 36 and the projections 38 are located so that two or more apparatuses 10 can be arranged on top of one another by pushing the T-shaped projections 38 into the grooves 36. A not shown sliding block is secured in at least one of the grooves 36 to fix the position of two apparatuses 10 in relation to each other.

[0016] Through holes 40 are located in the four corner regions of the outer walls 26, 28, 30, 32. As shown in FIG. 1, screws 42 can be turned in the holes 40, with which screws the removal place 16 and the filling funnel 20 can be secured to the material holder 12. The material holder 12 and the removal place 16 are therefore designed as parts capable of being joined together, whereby the removal place 16 is preferably flange-mounted to the material holder 12 using screws 42. Other connections are possible as well, however. It can be an adhesive-bonded, welded, or press-fit joint, for example. By designing the material holder 12 and the removal place 16 as parts capable of being joined together, the material holder 12 can be extended to the length necessary for storing the respective components.

[0017] As an alternative, the material holder 12 and the removal place 16 can also be designed as a single component. For this purpose, the apparatus 10 can be designed as a curved stamped sheet metal part, for example.

[0018] The removal place 16 has a rectangular frame 44 and a tray-shaped grabbing tray 46 abutting it. The frame 44 includes the end face 14 of the material holder 12 and has through holes for the screws 42 in the four corner regions. The grabbing tray 46 has a base plate 48. The base plate 48 extends outwardly from the side of the frame 44 that abuts the outer wall 28 of the material holder 12 located on the bottom in the assembled state. The region of the base plate 48 extending away from the frame 44 is curved so that it points upward when the apparatus 10 is in the assembled state. Material sliding out of the material holder 12 thereby comes to rest on the grabbing tray 46 of the removal place 16.

[0019] The base plate 48 and the removal place 16 are bordered by two outer walls 50, 52 on the outer sides of the base plate 48 that abut the frame 44, which said outer walls transition into the curved region of the grabbing tray 46. The removal place 16 and the grabbing tray 46 are divided into two segments 54, 56 located adjacent to each other. A separating wall 58 extends through the removal place 16 of the apparatus 10 in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus 10 to divide [the removal place 16] into the two segments 54, 56. The separating wall 58 is aligned with the separating wall 34 of the material holder 12. If necessary, more than two segments 54, 56 can be provided that are advantageously situated adjacent to each other. It is only necessary to provide the appropriate number of separating walls 28 to achieve this. The number of segments 54, 56 in the removal place 16 must then match the number of segments 22,24 in the material holder 12.

[0020] Pushing devices 60 for dispensing the material are provided in the region of the frame 44 between the outside walls 50, 52 and the separating wall 58 of the removal place 16. For this purpose, guides 62 are provided in the corner regions formed by the outside walls 50, 52 and the separating wall 58 with the frame 44. By moving the pushing device 60 appropriately, the optimal size of the opening of the frame 44 for the material to be furnished can be set.

[0021] The filling funnel 20 provided on the end face 18 of the material holder opposite to the removal place 16 is also divided into two adjacent segments 64, 66. Similar to the removal place 16, the filling funnel 18 also has a frame 68 that surrounds the end face 18. The filling funnel 18 is also flange-mounted to the material holder 12 by means of screws 42 turned in the holes 40. The frame 68 has a shape at the locations of the grooves 36 and the projections 38 that is adapted to said grooves and projections, so that a further apparatus 10 can be slid onto the apparatus 10.

[0022] The removal place 16 can be produced using the plastic injection-molding procedure, for example.

[0023] The filling funnel 20 has a base plate 70 that extends outwardly from the frame 68 and is curved so that it points upward in the assembled state. The base plate 70 of the filling funnel 20 is bordered by two outside walls 72, 74 that extend outwardly from the frame 68 and end in the curve-shaped region of the base plate 70. The segments 64, 66 are separated by the separating wall 76, whereby the separating wall 76 of the filling funnel 20 is aligned with the separating wall 24 of the material holder 12. More separating walls 76 can also be provided, if necessary, to form more than two segments 78, 80 which are ideally located adjacent to each other.

[0024] The filling funnel 20 can be produced using the plastic injection-molding procedure, for example.

[0025] The essential feature of the apparatus 10 is the fact that the material holder 12 and the removal place 16 are divided into a plurality of segments 22, 24, 54, 56 for the separate storage and furnishing of, in particular, different materials. If the filling funnel 20 is provided, it is also divided into the corresponding number of segments 64, 66. By dividing the apparatus 10 into two segments 22, 24, 54, 56, 64, 66, parts that are used together during installation, e.g., screws and nuts, or screws and washers, can be furnished together. By providing three segments 22, 24, 54, 64, 66, for example, screws, nuts and washers to be installed together can be furnished using one apparatus 10. For this purpose, the cross-sectional area of the segments 22, 24, 54, 56, 64, 66 can also be adapted to the size of the components.

[0026] It is further essential that an apparatus 10 having, for example, five or six segments 22, 24, 54, 56 preferably located adjacent to each other can be joined with further apparatuses 10 advantageously fixed by means of the grooves 36 and T-shaped projections 38 over the apparatus 10 in order to form a battery or a tower. If, for example, five apparatuses 10 each having six segments 22, 24, 54, 56 are joined together, then 30 different components can be furnished. The costs for the five apparatuses 10 are substantially lower, however, than 30 individual apparatuses in each of which only one component can be furnished. Even if no components are contained in individual segments 22, 24, 54, 56, the costs for one apparatus 10 are still lower.

[0027] The optimal number of segments 22, 24, 54, 56 can be determined by determining how many components must be installed at various work sites. The number can also be larger or smaller in any case than the example presented having six segments 22, 24, 54, 56. The required apparatuses 10 are then arranged on top of each other so that all components can be installed. They are then fixed into position-offset in relation to each other-using sliding blocks in the longitudinal direction of the apparatuses 10, so that the components are easy to grab. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus (10) for furnishing material at work sites having a material holder (12) and a removal place (16) that form at least one segment (22, 24, 54, 56), wherein the material holder (12) and the removal place (16) are divided into a plurality of segments (22, 24, 54, 56) for the separate storage and furnishing of material.
 2. The apparatus (10) according to claim 1, wherein at least one separating wall (34, 58) extends through the apparatus (10) in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus (10) to divide it into multiple segments (22, 24, 54, 56).
 3. The apparatus (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the chute-shaped material holder (12) is divided into at least two hollow chambers by means of at least one separating wall (34), and the removal place (16) is divided into at least two segments (54, 56) by means of at least one separating wall (58) aligned with at least one separating wall (34) of the material holder (12).
 4. The apparatus (10) according to claim 3, wherein one pushing device (60) is provided for each segment (54, 56) to dispense the material.
 5. The apparatus (10) according to one of the claims 1 through 4, wherein a filling funnel (20) is provided on the end face (18) of the material holder (12) opposite to the removal place (16) that is divided into a plurality of segments (64, 66).
 6. The apparatus (10) according to one of the claims 1 through 5, wherein the material holder (12) and the removal place (16) are designed as a single component.
 7. The apparatus (10) according to one of the claims 1 through 5, wherein the material holder (12) and the removal place (16) are designed as parts capable of being joined to each other, whereby the removal place (16) is preferably flange-mounted to the material holder (12) using screws (42).
 8. The apparatus (10) according to one of the claims 1 through 7, wherein the material holder (12) has undercut grooves (36) along one outer wall (26), and T-shaped projections (38) corresponding to the grooves (36) along the opposite outer wall (28) for arranging a plurality of apparatuses (10) on top of each other.
 9. A work site having at least one apparatus (10), preferably a plurality of apparatuses (10) according to one of the claims 1 through 8 arranged on top of each other. 